CBS gives full season orders to four shows

The verdict is in on CBS’ new fall lineup. The broadcaster has decided to pick up full seasons of all four of its new drama series. Scorpion, Madam Secretary,NCIS: New Orleans and Stalker will get additional episode orders. “These four shows have had an immediate impact on our schedule by improving nights, winning time periods and adding more hours of success across our primetime line up,” said Nina Tassler, chairman, CBS Entertainment.

Some thoughts on each:

— Scorpion: Picking up the genius-crime-solvers drama was a no-brainer. It’s averaging 15.17 million viewers, and hearty 3.6 rating among adults 18-49. It will be interesting to see how the show fares once CBS’ Mondays are no longer jump started by The Big Bang Theory when the hit comedy moves back to Thursdays this week.

— NCIS: New Orleans: Also an easy decision—a whopping 18.16 million viewers and a 2.8 in the demo.

— Madam Secretary: This one is a bit tricky. With an average age of 63, it’s the second oldest-skewing drama on broadcast (the first is CBS’ Blue Bloods). So while the show averages 13.5 million viewers, it only has a 1.8 in the demo (all these ratings include available DVR playback, by the way). So its Sunday time slot was greatly improved among total audience from The Amazing Race in the hour last year, yet took a hit in the demo.

— Stalker: If there’s a surprise in the lineup, it’s the pickup of Stalker, as its performance has been somewhat modest and the show was ripped by critics. The violent crime drama has averaged 9.5 million viewers, and a 2.1 in adults 18-49, yet clearly makes for a good thematic companion for Criminal Minds.

CBS still has one new show to come this fall: Boston-set comedy The McCarthys starring Laurie Metcalf debuts this Thursday at 9:30 p.m.

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